4: games decided by seven points or fewer in the last five Army-Navy games.

37-14: record of Navy's senior class, best in academy history.

327.5: Navy's rushing yards per game, third in the country

328.7: Army's rushing yards per game, second in the country

1941: last time Navy played Army without a bye week to prepare. Navy, which lost to Temple 34-10 in the American Athletic Championship game last Saturday, beat Army 14-6 in '41.

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

College football fans around the country will remember Army senior receiver Edgar Poe’s name from last December.

Poe delivered a breakout game on the gigantic stage of Army-Navy, catching five passes for 121 yards. His 39-yard touchdown reception from Chris Carter gave Army a 17-14 lead in the second quarter and its first halftime edge in the rivalry since 2009.

Asked if there could be anything better than catching a TD pass against Navy, Poe said, “I would imagine winning."

Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw said he knew one thing about West Point when Army started recruiting him out of Chicago: the Army-Navy game.

“It's absolutely a reason you come here, to be part of that,” said Bradshaw, a junior.

For the first time since the 2009 game featuring Army’s Trent Steelman and Navy’s Ricky Dobbs, both teams have quarterbacks making their first Army-Navy start. Bradshaw, injured last year at this time, and Navy sophomore quarterback Zach Abey are making their Army-Navy debuts.

Bradshaw, who has started 10 games this season, has totaled 1,259 yards with six rushing touchdowns. Abey has played in three games as a reserve. He’s rushed for 197 yards and completed 7-of-13 passes, all against Temple last week, for 104 yards and two interceptions.

What’s the secret to Navy’s success under Ken Niumatalolo? Niumatalolo has 77 wins and seven bowl appearances in his eight seasons. He is the first coach to win his first eight games in the Army-Navy rivalry.

“Tradition never graduates,” senior slotback Calvin Cass said. "Living up to the standards that coach Niumat has forced on us within the culture, you get the results with the seasons that we have had and piled on each other. This stuff doesn't happen overnight with a lucky class that just happens to have the talent, because the talent is pretty equal across the board with what we recruit.

"It's just the intangibles that we embody and what we try to instill within the freshmen, so when they become seniors, they instill that in the freshmen.''

By Sal Interdonato

Times Herald-Record

Stephen Anderson is still haunted by the 2009 Army-Navy game.

Like every Army player the last 14 years, college football’s most storied rivalry carries painful memories.

Anderson’s junior season was no different. He was frustrated and angry after singing Army’s alma mater first, as is customary for the losing team. “Navy Blue and Gold” then rang through Anderson’s ears as the Midshipmen and their Corps celebrated another win, 17-3.

“I remember having a deep feeling that we needed to make this (beating Navy) happen sooner or later,” said Anderson, who missed the game with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

From the start of preseason practice in August to the second Saturday in December, the question continues.

“Is this the year?”

For his part, Anderson, a former Black Knights captain, says it’s Army’s destiny to beat Navy on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. “We had a Cavs victory in June,” Anderson said. “We had a Cubs victory in October. This is the year that ends all streaks. I think at one point, President-elect Trump had 1.7 percent chance of winning the election. I think this is the year streaks end, and it would be a good fit for December 2016 to end one more streak.”

Many other Army faithful believe Navy’s run will end. The Black Knights were close last December, when record-setting quarterback Keenan Reynolds and No. 19 Navy squeaked by Army and then-freshman quarterback Chris Carter, 21-17.

Army is much improved, tripling its win total from 2015 and earning its first bowl bid (Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dec. 27) since 2010, Anderson’s senior year.

Navy has graduated Reynolds. Tago Smith, Reynolds’ understudy, was lost for the season due to a knee injury in the second quarter of the season opener. Will Worth, Smith’s replacement and the nation’s leader with 25 rushing touchdowns, suffered a season-ending foot injury in the American Athletic Conference championship game against Temple last week.

Sophomore Zach Abey will make his first career start against Army and its No. 5-ranked defense led by senior inside linebackers Andrew King and Jeremy Timpf. Navy also lost offensive captain and senior slotback Toneo Gulley (foot) for the season last week and has more than 10 key injured players out for the game.

Given another sparkling Navy season that included wins over Houston and Notre Dame, who would have thought that Army coach Jeff Monken would need to caution his players on overconfidence.

“We talked about the streak and we are really just tired of hearing about it," Army sophomore fullback Cole Macek said. "We are ready to change that.''

Such variables could lead to Army's alma mater being played second for the first time since 2001.

sinterdonato@th-record.com

Twitter: @salinterdonato

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